Lakshadweep UT’s plan to allow manufacture, sale of liquor sparks opposition
The administration on August 3 placed the draft ‘Lakshadweep Excise Regulation, 2022’ in the public domain inviting suggestions and feedback on the policy within 30 days.
A recent move by the Lakshadweep UT administration to permit the manufacture, sale and consumption of liquor on the islands through a draft bill has met both public and political opposition.
The administration on August 3 placed the draft ‘Lakshadweep Excise Regulation, 2022’ in the public domain inviting suggestions and feedback on the policy within 30 days.
The draft bill calls for the appointment of an ‘excise commissioner’ who will ‘regulate, control and monitor the manufacture, possession, import, export, transport, sale and consumption of liquor’.
“Subject to the provisions contained in sub-section (1) of section 14, the Administrator may issue license or permit to any government corporation or government company or government agency or any autonomous body, owned or controlled by the government for the purposes of import and retail vending of liquor in the union territory of Lakshadweep,” the draft regulation said.
Currently, liquor is served only in government bars and resorts for tourists on Bangaram island and is prohibited elsewhere in the Muslim-majority UT. The ban on the sale of alcohol in the UT was imposed in 1979 following a demand by the local population citing cultural reasons.
While Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal could not be reached for a comment, he told the New Indian Express, “Allowing sale of liquor to the public will destroy our culture and we will oppose it tooth and nail.”
Filmmaker Aisha Sultana, who belongs to Lakshadweep, said in a Facebook post, “The public stand is that sale of liquor is not permissible in Lakshadweep. A state where liquor is completely prohibited is Gujarat. Lakshadweep is also like that. What is the reason behind promoting sale of liquor in Lakshadweep when the same wasn’t done in Gujarat? Is this the development of Lakshadweep?”
Through her post, the filmmaker took a swipe at UT Administrator Praful Patel, who hails from Gujarat. After his appointment as the administrator of the UT in 2020, he had brought in a number of controversial proposals like banning cow slaughter, an Anti-Social Activities Act and regulations for the acquisition of land by the government.
